Bhopal (Madhya Pradesh): BJP has clean swept Madhya Pradesh, reducing Congress to only 66 seats. There were several incidents in the poll year which could have spoiled the game for the saffron party and Sidhi urination case was one of them. The video showing a BJP leader urinating on a tribal man's face went viral in no time, with netizens & politicians across parties criticising BJP leadership.
The incident did not go well with the tribals-- that dominate atleast 3 to 4 districts of total 9 in Vindhya region. When CM Shivraj tried to damage-control, the Brahmins got offended.
Yet, team-Shivraj managed to win 25 out of 30 seats in the region while Congress has won only 5 seats-- one short than it won in 2018 elections.
But How?
The Vindhya region borders Uttar Pradesh and has 30 assembly seats spread across nine eastern districts of Madhya Pradesh - Rewa, Shahdol, Satna, Sidhi, Singrauli, Anuppur, Umaria, Maihar and Mauganj (the last two were created recently).
Shivraj Singh Chouhan washed feet of Sidhi urination case victim Dashmat Rawat | ANI/File
Of these districts, Sidhi made headlines in July of this year when a close aide of BJP leader and then Sidhi BJP MLA Kedar Nath Shukla urinated on a tribal man’s face.
CM Washed Tribal Victims' Feet, Offending Brahmins
It is noteworthy that as soon as the urination case came to fore, before the opposition Congress party could use it as a political issue, BJP took the matter seriously. House of accused Parvesh Shukla was also razed down and BJP denied any connection with him. And CM Shivraj washed his the victim's feet and offered him shawl as a token of respect.
However, this did not go well with the Brahamins and they staged series of protests against the government.
BJP Kills Two Birds With One Stone
BJP still remained cautious though and fielded Sidhi MP Riti Pathak-- a Brahmin member, instead of sitting MLA Kedar Nath Shukla. With this tactical move, BJP killed two birds with one stone. One, it sent a message to the tribals that their oppression won't be tolerated, while pacifying Brahmins by giving ticket to Pathak.
The Brahamin community showed a strong support to Pathak and she won the elections by more than 35,000 votes against Congress’ Gyan Singh.
Also, Congress’ promise of a caste based census cost it Brahmin votes.Also, Congress’ promise of a caste based census cost it Brahmin votes.
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